United States: On Anniversary of George Floyd’s Murder, the Focus on Systemic Racism as Human Rights Violations Must Continue

05.25.21 

Statement by Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights: 

One year ago today, the world witnessed the dehumanizing treatment and horrific murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer.  

This event confronted American society, once again, with the brutality of systemic racism. While this chapter of racial reckoning is still unfolding, we must continue to focus attention on the many ways in which systemic racism is an ongoing violation of the human rights of Black people in the United States and seek accountability and redress. 

As a human rights organization, the Center for Reproductive Rights has joined a broad coalition urging the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to examine racial oppression and police violence, and to establish an international accountability mechanism to address systemic racism, including with a particular focus on the United States. We have urged the UN to take a gender-inclusive approach in this effort, and along with the National Birth Equity Collaborative, we have detailed the ways in which systemic racism, including police violence against Black people, impacts reproductive health and autonomy. 

We will continue to follow the lead and partner with our Reproductive Justice allies in the United States, led by Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous people, so that people of color can meaningfully exercise their human right to bodily autonomy, to decide if or when to have children, and to raise children in an environment of safety, dignity, and respect.  

We are committed to work within our organization and in society at large to eradicate racial inequities and ensure that the human rights and inherent worth and dignity of every person is valued, protected, and affirmed.  

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